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Accurate Weather Sites For Catalina Runs In SoCal

HubbaHubbaLife

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Do any SoCal offshore folks rely on a decent site for their Catalina Island trips? A boating buddy likes www.windy.com and I thought I'd check for additional ones. Thanks gang.
 

Tank

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I have a couple weather apps on my phone and will check them all before going out in the big blue. The first is forcast.weather.gov (NOAA / National weather service). I like that they give the weather but also the wind / direction, swell / direction / time, high and low tide schedule etc. Second App I use is Windy. The red one though not the blue one. It's SUPER interactive and you can move the curser around zoom in and out and it will give you the wind speed / direction hourly. I've found that both are 99% dead on! Makes boating in the ocean way more pleasurable than it used to be....You know, when you had to watch the news to get the forecast, wake up at 5 am to launch the boat and it was foggy, or windy, or the swell was 6 foot or whatever. Basically when you just rolled the f'n dice! LOL
 

wallnutz

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I have a couple weather apps on my phone and will check them all before going out in the big blue. The first is forcast.weather.gov (NOAA / National weather service). I like that they give the weather but also the wind / direction, swell / direction / time, high and low tide schedule etc. Second App I use is Windy. The red one though not the blue one. It's SUPER interactive and you can move the curser around zoom in and out and it will give you the wind speed / direction hourly. I've found that both are 99% dead on! Makes boating in the ocean way more pleasurable than it used to be....You know, when you had to watch the news to get the forecast, wake up at 5 am to launch the boat and it was foggy, or windy, or the swell was 6 foot or whatever. LOL
I use the NOAA site. Works good for day trips.
 

FishSniper

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Do any SoCal offshore folks rely on a decent site for their Catalina Island trips? A boating buddy likes www.windy.com and I thought I'd check for additional ones. Thanks gang.
Buoyweather.com in addition to the NOAA forecast mentioned above. Buoyweather has virtual buoys and you can click along the route your taking and it will give you a forecast. I only have used the free version which only forecasts a day or two out I haven’t ever used the pay version.
 

HubbaHubbaLife

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Thanks guys. Comments about waking at 5am and launching at 7 only to have fog arrive is something I can relate to. Especially this time of year. Take today for example regarding weather conditions; I'm looking at ocean now and its flat as a lake, flags are dead on cliff in CDM but when I go on Windy.com I see 23 Knt winds on Sunday and I'm considering a Sat 7am run overnight returning Sunday. Anything over 10 knts and I stay home. I have a 29' Magic Wizard which is quite beefy with a great deep free board & V for these trips but I prefer a soft ride at 35ish rather than beat everyone up so I only go on good conditions. I'll be watching the Windy site Friday night to see if accurate regarding winds.
 

Tank

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Thanks guys. Comments about waking at 5am and launching at 7 only to have fog arrive is something I can relate to. Especially this time of year. Take today for example regarding weather conditions; I'm looking at ocean now and its flat as a lake, flags are dead on cliff in CDM but when I go on Windy.com I see 23 Knt winds on Sunday and I'm considering a Sat 7am run overnight returning Sunday. Anything over 10 knts and I stay home. I have a 29' Magic Wizard which is quite beefy with a great deep free board & V for these trips but I prefer a soft ride at 35ish rather than beat everyone up so I only go on good conditions. I'll be watching the Windy site Friday night to see if accurate regarding winds.
I agree with you 100%! Any windier than 10mph pretty much sucks (unless its a santa anna and blowing offshore. That straight flattens the water down). Our boats have always been able to handle the shitty weather and big swell and wind and all but F all that. I'm a fair weather boater. Give me a nice flat ocean or a little 1 -2 foot swell to play with and I'm happy. I've run in shitty weather enough to know, it's no fun. Warm nice days is my boating style. 😎
 

SJP

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NOAA site is what I use. Looking forward to warmer temps and running out there this spring / summer.
 

Radioactive

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Waves, swell height, wind, temp, has it all
 
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Tank

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Thanks guys. Comments about waking at 5am and launching at 7 only to have fog arrive is something I can relate to. Especially this time of year. Take today for example regarding weather conditions; I'm looking at ocean now and its flat as a lake, flags are dead on cliff in CDM but when I go on Windy.com I see 23 Knt winds on Sunday and I'm considering a Sat 7am run overnight returning Sunday. Anything over 10 knts and I stay home. I have a 29' Magic Wizard which is quite beefy with a great deep free board & V for these trips but I prefer a soft ride at 35ish rather than beat everyone up so I only go on good conditions. I'll be watching the Windy site Friday night to see if accurate regarding winds.
By the way, I just took a gander at the 'ol Windy app. Holy shit it's gonna blow like a hooker on payday on Sunday!!! 30+ mph winds onshore. Yea, that a big no go!
 

HubbaHubbaLife

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By the way, I just took a gander at the 'ol Windy app. Holy shit it's gonna blow like a hooker on payday on Sunday!!! 30+ mph winds onshore. Yea, that a big no go!
I feel ya Tank.... I already called off the Island Saturday overnight run. Yesterday and today returning would've been the better call. I can see a narrow layer of smog lying down right at base of Catalina now and that tells me perfect seas.... I had a couple other Newport boating guys considering it as well but we all now use the windy.com site so called the trip off. He's got a beamie sport cruiser around 32' he fishes off and likes to lobster trap these days sleeping over on it. I'm an ocean panzy and will only consider best conditions. I have a trip planned mid March so we'll hope for good weather then. Cheers.
 

Tank

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I feel ya Tank.... I already called off the Island Saturday overnight run. Yesterday and today returning would've been the better call. I can see a narrow layer of smog lying down right at base of Catalina now and that tells me perfect seas.... I had a couple other Newport boating guys considering it as well but we all now use the windy.com site so called the trip off. He's got a beamie sport cruiser around 32' he fishes off and likes to lobster trap these days sleeping over on it. I'm an ocean panzy and will only consider best conditions. I have a trip planned mid March so we'll hope for good weather then. Cheers.
Looks like it'd still be a nice run over and back for lunch tomorrow though. Launch early, get back before 2pm. That was our go to for YEARS! Then head back to the Yardhouse for beers and chill. Miss those days when SCOPE was large and there were lots of performance boats running around.
 

HubbaHubbaLife

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Looks like it'd still be a nice run over and back for lunch tomorrow though. Launch early, get back before 2pm. That was our go to for YEARS! Then head back to the Yardhouse for beers and chill. Miss those days when SCOPE was large and there were lots of performance boats running around.
Ah, that says you're out of Long Beach then I'm thinking. I've got a 25 mile run outta Nprt from buoy to buoy to Avalon....I always launch the day prior and grab a guest overnight slip so I can jump on around 7am and hit open sea by 8am before any winds kick up. Last trip I had a cool sporty gal pal onboard and when we arrived in Avalon we were game for some additional speed so we headed north up to Two Harbors. I dig that place for super chilling... turned out they were setting up for their Pirate Days annual celebration and we got to have lunch and listen to the band practicing. Pretty sweet.... I've stayed over at the Banning House Lodge up the hill for years if you've not done so you might enjoy it.
 

Tank

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Ah, that says you're out of Long Beach then I'm thinking. I've got a 25 mile run outta Nprt from buoy to buoy to Avalon....I always launch the day prior and grab a guest overnight slip so I can jump on around 7am and hit open sea by 8am before any winds kick up. Last trip I had a cool sporty gal pal onboard and when we arrived in Avalon we were game for some additional speed so we headed north up to Two Harbors. I dig that place for super chilling... turned out they were setting up for their Pirate Days annual celebration and we got to have lunch and listen to the band practicing. Pretty sweet.... I've stayed over at the Banning House Lodge up the hill for years if you've not done so you might enjoy it.

Yeah, we'd usually launch out of L.B. Sometimes out of Marina Del Rey since we're coming down from Ventura County. I used to love Catalina when we were running over there a lot. Seems last couple times we were there it kind've lost it's feel to me. Very crowded, overly touristy and packed full of not just tourists. At least Avalon. We know the owner of the big red house up on the hill next to the riggley mansion and he has a little house around the corner from the Pavailion, so we stay there when we go. I know the banning house. Cool spot. I've never actually stepped foot onto land at Two Harbors. But it will be the place we go when we eventually go back. Then we can run over to Avalon for lunch or dinner or whatever. Less people there, more chill.
 

ka0tyk

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I feel your pain. I drive up ocean blvd every damn day and the harbor is pure glass. I get the itch to go out on a weekend and its like the "perfect storm" movie. I dont get it.
 

HubbaHubbaLife

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Yeah, we'd usually launch out of L.B. Sometimes out of Marina Del Rey since we're coming down from Ventura County. I used to love Catalina when we were running over there a lot. Seems last couple times we were there it kind've lost it's feel to me. Very crowded, overly touristy and packed full of not just tourists. At least Avalon. We know the owner of the big red house up on the hill next to the riggley mansion and he has a little house around the corner from the Pavailion, so we stay there when we go. I know the banning house. Cool spot. I've never actually stepped foot onto land at Two Harbors. But it will be the place we go when we eventually go back. Then we can run over to Avalon for lunch or dinner or whatever. Less people there, more chill.
So true Tank.... I've been running over to Catalina around 30 years now off and on with either my own little speed boats or on the Flyer out of Newport. A buddy turned me onto Two Harbors back in 2005 and we'd grab our girlfriends and camp on the hill side down right above water where our boats were moored. Easy lifestyle and a bit younger then. Avalon got way too Newporty for me a while back with vibe becoming a total tourist trap... I never go during peak season to Avalon, ruins the chilled vibe. I know that huge red home up on the hillside you're referring to... awesome spot. Right around 2005 I discovered the Zane Grey Hotel on opposite cliff across harbor from your friends home. Maybe you know of it.... He was an author who built the home in Santa Fe style as he found the marlin fishing in the 60s to be world class off Catalina. After his death his grand daughter lived in a private main area and the remaining property became a cool maybe 10 room boutique hotel with pool and that magnificent view. It sits right near a huge bell tower buikt be Mrs Wrigley to hail her husband in for dinner as he was a big deep sea fisherman back in those days. The Zane Gray sold and I think is being remodeled so gone will be the days of my winter season stays for $180. I've converted over to Pavilion's Hotel now and enjoy going several times a year.
 

Tank

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I know the Zane Grey but never stayed there. That's another thing I don't dig is the sky rocketing cost of, well, everything. Last time we went (about 3 years ago) with the kids and some friends, we get up, pack up, go down to sit on the beach next to the pier, it gets STUPID crowded. Second day of doing that, the wife looks over at me and says, "why the fuck are we doing this? We could be sitting on the beach in front of our house for free with no one there!" LOL I was like, "yeah, true story." That was the last trip. Like I said, it just lost it's allure to stay. We'll be running the cig over for sure for day trips and most likely an over nighter or weekend at Two Harbors. But the days of actually going over and staying in avalon at a hotel for the weekend? I'm out.
 

Tank

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I just realized that when I was referring to the NOAA app and describing it I was actually describing surf-forecast.com. That’s my GO TO for water conditions. Check it out. I really like the wave height and period between swells. Speaking of which, It’s gonna be BIG Sunday; 35 mph winds, 11’ swell at 8 seconds!!😳😳😳 that’s stacked deep!!! Large craft warning status.

Check the site out it’s a must if you go offshore. Great resource.

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DrunkenSailor

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I just realized the when I was referring to the NOAA app and describing it I was actually describing surf-forecast.com. That’s my GO TO for water conditions. Check it out. I really like the wave height and period between swells. Speaking of which. Speaking of which It’s gonna be BIG Sunday. 35 mph winds, 11’ swell at 8 seconds!!😳😳😳 that’s stacked deep!!! Large craft warning status.

Check the site out it’s a must if you go offshore. Great resource.

View attachment 849642 View attachment 849643

Yeehaw. Havent seen it like that in awhile.
 

Tank

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Yeehaw. Havent seen it like that in awhile.

Yeah. It’s fun to go out and watch the waves hit the break wall and splash up 40’ in the air. Crazy how much power.

We went out about 10 years ago in our last cigarette and the swell was 15 plus. But the wind wasn’t bad and the swell was spaced out pretty good and you could quarter it. Surreal when you drop down in the troff and can’t see anything but walls of water in all directions. 😳
 

DrunkenSailor

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Yeah. It’s fun to go out and watch the waves hit the break wall and splash up 40’ in the air. Crazy how much power.

We went out about 10 years ago in our last cigarette and the swell was 15 plus. But the wind wasn’t bad and the swell was spaced out pretty good and you could quarter it. Surreal when you drop down in the troff and can’t see anything but walls of water in all directions. 😳

I would love to do that in a cig. Sounds like a blast.
 

HubbaHubbaLife

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Yeah. It’s fun to go out and watch the waves hit the break wall and splash up 40’ in the air. Crazy how much power.

We went out about 10 years ago in our last cigarette and the swell was 15 plus. But the wind wasn’t bad and the swell was spaced out pretty good and you could quarter it. Surreal when you drop down in the troff and can’t see anything but walls of water in all directions. 😳
Hey, I checked out that site, thanks..... great source to use. Whoa, those swells are massive..... I've been going over for years and fortunately always always always check before heading across that channel. I started on my first lil 23' runabout. It was a Caravelle/ Interceptor with a 350 MAG... I learned boating on that sweet little puppy. As long as I had the throttle on the bow would clear pretty much most waves. It was lower profile so I had to learn a lot fast and never just shut down and drift in swells of any size cause the water would come right the hell over into the open bow section. I think I spotted your boat on the forum before.... looked like a Cig at around 35-38' so you'd be more willing to take the middle of the day to go over and back for lunch kinda thing. I'm in a 30' Magic open bow which is much beefier and deep than that little 23' but I'd be too beat on it for a lunch and return. Try not to write Avalon off entirely.... I've found the winter months aren't crowded... I haven't been in peak season for years myself. I hate crowds.... and besides as you and I know the water is so much smoother in the colder season. Summer air is warm which causes wind... wind ain't anybodies friend, lol. I'm with your wife about that shitty little beach in front of Luau Larrys.... I guess what I dig about going in winter is you get to notice the locals because there's less people everywhere so they stick out more.... plus they go into hiding a bit because you can imagine how much crap they put up in tourist season. Those locals are pretty unusual type cats and always a treat to have a drink with after a round of golf, etc....
 

HubbaHubbaLife

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Yeah, we'd usually launch out of L.B. Sometimes out of Marina Del Rey since we're coming down from Ventura County. I used to love Catalina when we were running over there a lot. Seems last couple times we were there it kind've lost it's feel to me. Very crowded, overly touristy and packed full of not just tourists. At least Avalon. We know the owner of the big red house up on the hill next to the riggley mansion and he has a little house around the corner from the Pavailion, so we stay there when we go. I know the banning house. Cool spot. I've never actually stepped foot onto land at Two Harbors. But it will be the place we go when we eventually go back. Then we can run over to Avalon for lunch or dinner or whatever. Less people there, more chill.
I just looked on windy.com out of curiosity to see if those winds really did hit their projections today. I think on Thursday we saw 25 knots coming Sunday from Newport across to Avalon .... and I believe you even spotted some 35 knot winds from where you are in Ventura County. It looks like 12-15 knots down this way crossing today. Like we said we prefer the 5 knot stuff so I'd say the site proved itself just fine. I'm looking out at it now and there's whitecaps everywhere.
 
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